Golf club



Mar. 3; 192s.

J. R. GAMMETER.

vvGOLF CLUB Filed oct. 1o, 1921 Innen/Z0?" Ja/uLZam/nefr y 'fe/6.2K

` of"swing an "-fwhich will Patented Maas, 1925.

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' .Application fled October 10, 1921.' Serial No. 506,730;

To all-'whom t may concern: y

Be it known that I. JOHN R. GAMMnTER,\a\

citizen of the United States, residing at Akron, in the county ofSummitv and Statel ll of Ohio, have invented new and usefulv Iml roundshafts and,'in wooden clubs, the club r head is provided with a solesurface, a top vsurface and a rear surface. cure length in driving theball, the club must be swung very .%uickly through the air and istraveling wit great rapidity at.` the moment of impact. yDuring theplaying stroke, air is carried forward in the path of travel and ispacked in front of the rapidly moving parts of the club and a vacuum orpartial vacuum is formed along the trailing edge thereof, retarding theprogress of the club and causing it to deviate from the 'true line oftravel. AkObjects. of this linvention are to provide a stream line golfclub, or other playing implement, which may be swung through the airwith great rapidity and which will overcome the above objections andprovide means whereby a golf bal-1 may be driven more accurately and toa .greater length-than f has heretofore been attainable.

. Another important object, which may be considered entirely apart fromthe obiects above set forth, is to provide a club shaft v o of elongatedcross section, having( its greatest diameter disposed at a right angleto avertical plane passing through the shaft and club head-and to thusprovidea shaft which is relatively stronger-and possesses .45 greaterrigidityl along a. plane extending longitudinally therethroughy and.runningv with the Aplane of swing so`that* the shaftA will remainfrm and.present the head Solidly to the ball.

A further object which may \be' considered in connection with the aboveobject is to provide a club shaft which will lbe relatively splingy" orwhippy, in 'al vertical plane runnin at a right anglglto the planedrawings 'wherein I have illustrated an em- In order to sef The numeral-9 is employed to indicate the d upwardly when the club, head is broughtinto contact with the lturf and will permit the club y Vhead to slideforward to the ball with a minimum lossof force.

The above objections are overcome and the objects hereinbefore set forthare at` tained by the novel construction hereinafter described and shownlin the accompaying bodiment of myv invention, it being understood thatthe invention is capable ofv various adaptations and that changes andmodifications may be made orsubstitutions resorted to whlch come withinthe scope of the claims hereunto appended.

In the drawings in which similar numerals of reference have beenemployed to designate like parts as the same may occur in the severalviews and 1n wh1ch:-

Figure l is a front elevation of a golf club constructedin accordancewith this invention and showing the same as it is positioned at themoment of impact.

'Figure 2 is'a top plani view of a club I hlagl and alsor'showing aportion of the club 80 s a t.

Figure 3 is a vertical. sectional view taken yapproximately on the line3 3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an elevational view o f a club head looking toward the toethereof.

Figure 5 is a rear elevation of'same. Figure 6 illustrates a series ofcross sectional views of a club shaft' as taken on" the lines a-a, b-b,"o-c and d -d' of Figure 1. 90

For the purpose of clearly describing l, my invention, thefnumeral 7 hasbeenused inthe drawings 'to denote. the club/shaft and the numeral 8 todenote the club head. 96 forward or cleaving edge' of the shaft 7. v

vIn the adaptation of the invention illustrated, it .will be noted thatthe cleaving edge continues aldng 'the forward edgev of the club andextends downwardly along the club headterminating at the club face 8.The .numeral 10 denotes. the trailing edge of the shaft and in clubs ofthe character described in the drawings, the edge 10 continuesdownwardly along the rear edge of the club shank and curves into a.horizontal line running entirely around the trailing edge of the cluband extending around the 'toe 8h of theclub, terminating at thev clubface 8*. .The s'ole 8 of the lclub head'8 has 4110 a flat horizontallydisposed central surface y which extendsstraight back from the loweredge of the club face 8 and merges into an'upn'ardly curvedmarginahsurfa'ce which meets the upper surface 8 of the clubalong thelines 9 and 10 and, at the heel of the club, the sole surface 8dcontinues upwardly and merges into the under surface of the shank., Theupper ,face 8 is substantially convex and, except at the club face,intersects the sole surface' 8d at an angle along the lines 9 and l0.For practical purposes I prefer to slightly round the edge formed by themeeting upper and lower faces of the club as will be' noted by a carefulexamination of Figures 3 and 4.

Attention is now called to the several views included in Figure 6 and tothe differing cross sectional contours disclosed therein. It will benoted that each of said views discloses an elongated cross section of,the other.

having its greatest diameter disposed transversely to a vertical planepassing through rthe shaft and club head. The greatest oliafineter atany instance extends between the edges 9 and v10 andsimilar portionsofthe shaft lie on opposite sides of the plane eX- tending with thelines 9 and 10. 'Ihe inner 'or under face 7b "of the club shaft 7 andthe upper or outer faced?c thereof are of approximately equal area andeach of said surfaces are formed with a stream line eurvature. Thesurfaces 7c and 7b intersect along the line 10 at a relatively sharperangle than the angle formed at the intersection of said surface alongthe line 9 and the shaft is thus formed so that a vertical plane passingthrough the center thereo dividesthe club into a relatively bluntforward portion and a tapering rear portion. The grip portion 7a of theshaft 1s preferably cylindrical and the shaft tapers downwardlytherefrom, with a constantly changing cross sectional contour, to itsjuncture with the vhead 8. In the adaption of the invention disclosed 1nthe drawing, the upper surface 8 of theclub head and the upper surface 7of the shaft are alined at apoint of juncture. Each ofsaid surfacesVconstituting a continuation The lower surface 7by of the shaft and. thelower surface 8d of the club ead are likewise alined, thus forming a`club having a smooth continuous upper and lower surface When properlyused, both the forward edge 9y and the trailing edge 10 of my improvedshaft will lie in the plane of'swing during the playing stroke. The edge9 will cleave-the air and the surfaces 7h and 7 are of a contour whichwill permit the air, dlsplaced by the forward motion of the shaft) toflow smoothly around the shaft so that no 'air will be carried forwardthereby to be packed along the forward edge thereof.

'constructed so that it will give or bend in During the forward stroke,thefair displaced by the movement of the shaft or club head will owsmoothly therearound. to the trailing edge 10 thereof, thus. preventingthe formation of a vacuum or partial vacuum along the trailing edge ofany part of the club.

While my improved shaft is intended to present the head solidly to theball, it is a vertical plane at themoment of impact, the shaft 7 isrelatively thin adjacent the bottom thereof and constantly increases incross sectional area to the grip portion thereof. T f during the playingstroke, the club head is brought into`contact with the turf, the shaft 9will bend upwardly adjacent the bottom thereof and the club may bcforced along the turf` to the point of impact without seriouslyretarding its" motion.

In carrying out my invention, I prefer to conform substantially to thecontour disclosed by the' several instances illustrated in Figure 6. Theshape of the shaft at any point depending upon its distance from thecenter` of swing, but it isto be understood that I am not confined tothe exaet'contour therein shown.

In some forms of clubs, it may be found impraeticable to construct 'ajclub head in accordance with this invention and in some instancesindividual preference'may require that the principles herein disclosedbe applied to the club head only and it is therefore understood that theinvention is applicable to any part of the club. As this invention is ofcommanding importance in, the art of constructing golf clubs or similarimplements. protection thereon is claimed in its broadest possiblescope.

Having thus illustrated my invention and4 described the same in detail,what I claim as new and desire to securev by Letters- Patent is v 1-. Ina golf club, a head [having a striking facega sole surface and a topsurface, sai surfaces converging from said striking'faoe and meeting atan angle along a horizontal line extending around the rear edgel of the115 toe and head.

2. In a golf club, a. head having a striking face, a sole surface andatop surface, the said surfaces converging in a streami 'line curvatureand intersecting along amo .ing face and upper and lower lsurfaces 125.

which intersect around the entire marginal edges thereof. U

4. In a golf. club, a head having a striking face and upper and lowersurfaces, the

marginal portions of which intersect to 13- fori'n a knife-like edgeextending .centrally of the club head from the toe end of the strikingface, around the toe and trailing ing face and intersecting upper andlower ZIO the toe to the striking a' striking faceand` intersecti'nsurfaces, the line of intersection being disposed along the rear edge ofthe neck, around the trailing edge of the head4 and extending around thetoe of the clubto the striking face thereof. l

7. In a golf club, a club headhaving a striking face and intersectingupper and lower surfaces, the said surfaces .intersecting in a linedisposed along the trailing edge of the neck and head and -extendinaround face and a so intersecting in a line running along the forwardedge of the neck and extending along the head to the striking face.

In a golf club, a club head having a upper and lower surfaces and havina s aft of elongated cross section provi ed with intersecting-upper andlower surfaces, one of the lines of intersection extending from thestriking face around the toe, the trailing edge of the head and neck andalong the trailing edge of the shaft.; the other line of intersectionextending from the opposite end of the striking face along the forwardedge of the head, neck and shaft.

9. In a golf club, a club head having a striking face and intersectingupper and lower surfaces, with the line of intersection extending fromthestriking face around th l toe and trailing edge of the head and alonthe trailing edge of the neck and provide with a shaft havingintersecting upper and lower surfaces with the line of intersectiondisposed along the trailing edge ofthe shaft :1nd constituting acontinuation of the first named line of. intersection.

10. A club head. having 'a striking face and intersecting upper andlower surfaces, 4

one line of intersection running from the heel end of the striking facealong the for- -ward edge of the club and shaft, the other line ofintersection ruiming from the toe end of the striking face around thetoe and y along the trailing 'edge-` of the head and shaft.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

' JOHN n. GAMMETER.

